Stream Quantification Tool Regulator Support and Workshop, USACE Albuquerque District

NOTICE OF INTENT TO AWARD SOLE SOURCE PROCUREMENT: Under the authority of  Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 13, it is the Government's intent to award a sole source service contract for the necessary Colorado Stream Quantification Tool (CSQT) Regulator Review Checklist, an accompanying Regulator Review Workshop, and online training covering the Stream Functions Pyramid Framework (SFPF) and a detailed review of the CSQT.  THIS IS NOT A FORMAL SOLICITATION.  This synopsis is not considered a Request for Quotation or Proposal.  No solicitation document is available, and telephone requests for a copy of the solicitation will not be honored.  Any response to this notice must show clear and convincing evidence that competition would be advantageous to the Government.  All responses received will be considered before the stated deadline.  If no affirmative written response is received, the service contract will be awarded without further notice.  A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed service contract is based on the following background information:

In 2016, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) identified the need to develop both stream assessment methods and stream mitigation procedures to meet the goals of the Clean Water Act (CWA) 404 implementing regulations.  In order to meet this need, USACE initiated collaboration between the three USACE districts in Colorado (Albuquerque, Omaha, and Sacramento). The multi-district team had two goals in this effort: (1) identify a stream functional assessment approach to pursue in Colorado, including establishing the primary goals for an approach in Colorado, reviewing existing approaches from around the country, and developing a recommendation that would best meet the team’s goals and represent Colorado resources; and (2) develop a recommended approach for stream debiting and crediting in Colorado, including evaluating how the selected functional assessment method could estimate functional changes at impact and mitigation sites and how these functional changes could be used to inform mitigation policy in Colorado, review of existing approaches, and recommending how to approach crediting and debiting in Colorado.

USACE concluded this effort and issued a report on March 24, 2017, entitled Colorado Stream Methods Development, Final Report, recommending the regionalization of the Stream Quantification Tool and development of stream mitigation procedures that placed emphasis on the functional condition at mitigation and impact sites and incorporated an assessment approach into the calculation of debits and credits.

In the fall of 2018, the USACE Colorado Mitigation Project Delivery Team (PDT), in collaboration with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 8 and other federal and state agency stakeholders, began the process of regionalizing the SQT for use in Colorado based on the recommendations contained in the Final Report. Concurrently, the Colorado Mitigation PDT began to develop mitigation procedures that would utilize the results of the CSQT in calculating stream mitigation debits and credits. Both the CSQT Beta and the Colorado Mitigation Procedures (COMP) v1 were finalized and approved for statewide use in May 2019. USACE solicited public comments between May 2019 and November 2019.

In June 2020, the Colorado Mitigation PDT completed revisions to the COMP v1, based on public feedback, and finalized and approved the statewide use of COMP v2. Additionally, in June 2020, the Colorado Mitigation PDT and EPA Region 8 completed revisions to the CSQT Beta, based on public feedback, and finalized CSQT v1. The CSQT v1 is currently pending final approval and is expected to be approved for statewide use before the end of Fiscal Year 2020.

Consideration of possible responses to this notice, and is solely within the discretion of the Government.  The estimated magnitude of this requirement is below the Simplified Acquisition Threshold and will be award in accordance with FAR Part 13.5 and is exempt from the procedures of FAR Part 6.  Detailed capabilities must be submitted to the following email address no later than 10:00 AM (MST) 30 September 2020, stephanie.n.parra@usace.army.mil.